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Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen

Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen on Urbanspoon

The previous times I went to Gurkha, the appetizers were the best choices, and my latest outing confirms this is still the case. Mains are filling because they come with rice and a token salad (which, by the way, really needs helps in composition and presentation), but for tasty bang for your buck, stick with appetizers.
If you want mains, go instead to an Indian restaurant and ask for "mild" spiciness.

One big advantage for Gurkha is, for vegans and especially for those who need a gluten-free diet, there is no shortage of stuff to order.

Tibetan Tea ($3)
This is butter tea, but so weak on the butter it's basically a chai. The now-closed Vancouver Tibet Kitchen used to serve a buttery-strong version of this, but it is definitely an acquired taste and icky to most anyway.

Kothey Momo ($10)
  • Works out to $1 per momo. I went for the Dalai Lama / Vegetable momo. The "kothey" option means you get it deep fried.
  • The Dalai Lama momo has potato, cabbage, spinach and tofu. If you tear it open to have a look, it's white filling with green bits of spinach. Overall, rather bland from the tofu/cabbage/potato mix. If you're not vegetarian, go for the chicken-based Tenzing momo.
Tenzing Momo
  • Pretty tasty and lots of meat here. Each is about the size of a ping pong ball, so a full plate can make for a nice, light meal at a fairly good price.
  • Steamed version has sort-of rubbery skin, but it just holds the meat inside so you don't get "just a meatball".
Dudhbari ($4) picture
  • Sweet milky lumps in a soup of rose water and cardamom. Token pistachio.
  • Heavy on the rosewater, so watch out if you don't like that stuff. I don't, so this was tough to finish. If it doesn't bug you, then this comes across like a sweet, soupy Indian rice pudding.
Chai Creme Brulee ($8) picture
  • This uses the wide creme brulee dish, so there's a good quantity of dessert here for $8.
  • They are not skimpy with the chai part, so that flavour is strong and clear. You're not just gettting "chai infused" or a bit of chai flavour here.
  • If they get it out of the kitchen fast enough, there will still be blue flames burning the sugar on top when it hits your table.
Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen participates in the MealShare charity, and they regularly rotate their qualifying dishes and have 2-3 Mealshare items at any one time.

Also at our outing was Isabelle Guns and Q's Quarter, who took the pictures linked above.

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